Dark Magic

The Whomping Willow Tree

"Professor?"

The man hummed from beside me in response, as we made our way down the hill leading towards the Black Lake. "I half-expected my Boggart to be the Black Lake, because of an accident I had last year. Or even something bad happening to Harry. But, I don't understand what it was?" My eyes met his, as he pursed his lips for a brief moment, gazing back to the path ahead. 

"Your Boggart is something that I haven't seen before, Emerald. But I came to realize the true meaning of it..." He paused, deliberating his choice of words for a moment before he continued to speak. "In the Wizarding World, we have many wonderful spells, as I hear you are well-versed. But amongst those are a few, unforgivable curses; all of which you will learn about next year. I believe, your Boggart may have represented one of them." He explained, only causing an increase in my confusion.

"Which curse do you think it was?" The man chuckled as my pressing nature, shaking his head in dismissal. "I tell you what; I'll explain it to you next year before the start of term. Deal?" He outstretched his hand, causing me to sigh in annoyance and accept it. "Deal." Little did he know, I was already planning on finding the book later in the library and discovering the curse myself...

I looked back towards the path in front of me, finding that Ash Pearl was nowhere to be seen. Glancing around, I watched her tail as it disappeared just over a hill in the distance. "That bloody cat! I better go!" I called, to which Lupin nodded with a small chuckle, "Of course. Goodbye, Emerald."

"Bye, Professor Lupin!" I called out, waving as I picked up a running stance and followed after my mother's cat. I caught the small shadow of her silvery fur as she ran towards a willow tree by the outskirts; the same tree I had made a mental reminder to read under at some point. Instead of coming to a halt at the foot of the tree, however, she disappeared into a small hole in it's roots.

My head tilted to the side confusedly, "Pearl!" I called out, hoping she would hear my voice and come back. Unfortunately, she did not. Huffing, I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and made my way closer to the tree, following the cat's path into the roots. 

My feet gave way as I fell deeper into the hole, like Alice fell into Wonderland; only with less grace as I hit the ground with a thud after a steep drop. Some remnants of dirt fell onto me, as I found a huge tunnel had been dug underneath the tree.

With an annoyed huff, I dusted some of the dirt from my jumper, grabbing my wand from my back pocket. "Lumos." I spoke simply, a light emitting from my wand for the tunnel was too dark to see to where it lead to.

"Pearl!" I whisper-shouted, delving deeper into the tunnel as a small 'meow' sounded in the distance. It would take me a few minutes before I could even find a light at the end. Closing the gap, I found a small, trap door that had been pushed open a smidge; easy for the cat to open.

With a small push, I found myself in an old, decrepit house that must have been abandoned for twenty years or so. I began to make clicking noises with my mouth, hoping it would beckon the feline to come to me. Only, a small scuffle sounded in response from upstairs. "Nox." I waved my wand, dimming the light as I began sprinting up the stairs as fast as I could. 

I finally found a room where the scuffle was emitting from, gasping as my eyes laid on Pearl hissing maniacally. Her nose was forced into a small hole in the corner of the room. Sighing in both anger and relief emitted from me, as I made my way across the room to her. "What is it, girl?"

Having to forcibly pry her from her place in the corner of the room, digging her claws into the wood, I decided it would only be natural for the need to explore the house a little; Dumbledore hadn't mentioned that a willow tree on the school grounds had a secret passageway leading to a creepy, old house. Not that he disclosed it would be a good idea to venture into.

Making my way over to a broken window, I looked outside to find it was blanketed entirely in snow; strange, it didn't usually snow in October, especially so close to Hogwarts....Unless I wasn't in Hogwarts anymore... My eyes squinted as I fought to make out a small town in the distance, also caked in white icicles. 

Hogsmeade, I realised. But then the horrifying, momentary realisation occurred, confirming the house in which we were both standing. McGonagall had mentioned it in our first trip to Hogsmeade in the summer...Gulping, I glanced around in disbelief and terror...

The Shrieking Shack!

"Time to go." My voice came out as a sort of strangled cry, as my legs began to work before my mind could and I ran as fast as I could in the direction of the trap door. Fortunately, it was still open; causing me to practically launch myself into the hole with Pearl.

She ran ahead, back towards the willow tree's entrance hole. "Lumos!" I incanted, gasping as the trap door slammed close behind us both. I gasped, my foot catching on a root as I fell flat to the floor. This is it, I thought. This is how I'm going to die.

Only there were no footsteps chasing us. Pearl's meows sounded from outside the tunnel. At least the bloody cat had made it; the cat that caused me to go down there in the first place.

A small ray of hope found its way into my mind, as I grabbed my wand and continued sprinting towards the entrance. Managing to claw my way back up the rabbit hole, I found the cat waiting for me on the comfort of the grass; night had already approached, as the moon shone brightly over the school grounds; a waning gibbous, on that night. I had missed the full moon by a mere few days...

I laid on the grass, completely exhausted and trying to catch my breath. Pearl purred, rubbing her head against my side apologetically. Trying to control my anger, I shook my head towards her in momentary disgust, "Bloody, stupid cat."